Mayor Subrata Mukherjee has requested all political parties to pull down hoardings, banners and graffiti of their past political programmes from important intersections of city roads. He said political leaders in the city had developed a habit of not removing banners and hoardings long after the function was over. Defaced banners and posters created visual pollution in the city and showed the city in poor light on the world tourism map, Mukherjee said on Friday.

Calcutta High Court on Friday directed petitioner Howrah Ganatantrik Nagarik Samiti to serve notices on the army in the Brigade Parade Grounds pollution case. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice A.K. Mathur and Justice J. Biswas, also directed the petitioner to make the stateís chief secretary a party to the case. The Samiti had moved a petition before the court, on Thursday, alleging that the historic patch of the Maidan had turned into a dumping ground and a den of vice. The petitioner sought the courtís intervention in the matter so that the Brigade Parade Grounds could be restored.

The Bidhannagar Municipality has decided to extend the period of rebate on property tax payment till March 31. Announcing this, municipality chairman Dilip Gupta said on Friday that this was part of the civic bodyís drive to collect Rs 50 lakh as property tax in March. The decision was taken at the chairman-in-council meeting.

The Bidhannagar Municipality on Wednesday threatened to disconnect water supply of Bidyut Bhavan, head office of the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB), alleging that the power utility was not paying property tax. Municipal officials alleged that in spite of mounting dues to the tune of nearly Rs 7 lakh, the WBSEB had not paid up. The civic body had sent a demand notice to the Board, which was ignored.

A 40-year-old woman, Suhasini Chowdhury, was injured when she was hit by a private bus on route 216 on Friday at the crossing of Ultadanga and VIP Road. The driver of the bus was also injured as he was hit by an autorickshaw while fleeing the spot. Both were admitted to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Police have seized the bus.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation is procuring mechanical sweepers for the first time, to sweep city streets clean. Mayor Subrata Mukherjee said two such mechanical sweepers would be procured at first, for Rs 40 lakh.

House-owners in the city, who constitute less than eight per cent of the users of water, will have to bear the maintenance and running cost for filtered water supply as an extra financial burden over and above property tax. Mayor-in-council member, water supply, Sovan Chatterjee on Friday finalised a new format and submitted it to the mayor. The quantum of water tax will be mentioned separately in the tax bill. Meanwhile, some municipal workers threatened to start a movement against imposition of tax without providing pure drinking water. The decision was announced on Friday at a meeting organised by the Indian National Municipal and Local Bodies Workers Association.

Three persons were arrested for stealing saris, worth Rs 8 lakh, from a factory on Khagen Chatterjee Street in Chitpur on Friday. Later, police recovered saris worth about Rs 6 lakh from the godown of one of the arrested persons. Those arrested were identified as Umesh Barma and Biplab Das, both employees of the factory, and Asoke Jalan, from whose godown the saris were found, police said.

An exhibition on safety and security devices, the first of its kind in Calcutta entitled Securitex, was inaugurated by additional commissioner of police (traffic) Sandhi Mukherjee at Science City on Friday.